The Shades charge, and the difference is immediately apparent. Only three or four of them charge into my side of the barricade before the others realize how hopeless their assault is. No part of our fortification struggles in the slightest, with every member of our front line being formidable in their own way, but they still mostly manage to wound and fend off their attackers while mine fall where they stand. The advantages afforded by our fortifications finally outweigh the differences in Strength and Dexterity, making their attempts an exercise in futility. They attempt to focus their efforts on other areas of the fortification, but I hamstring them by periodically flashing them with burning Light. Barely ten minutes of combat go by before they retreat under Amy and Lynn’s barrage of arrows, leaving their dead and dying to evaporate in the firelight.

I really need to congratulate Marie on her masterful work with the defences. There’s a shallow trench right before the wooden barricade that has spikes all along the side closer to us and the bottom, making it necessary for attackers to leap over it in order to assault us. However, if they’re repelled or deflected, they get impaled and killed. This works especially well for Shades, who do not leave corpses behind for very long. This way, their bodies can’t gum up the passive defences and give future attackers a means of subverting them. The Shades have long since abandoned any hope of pelting us with rocks, because they lack the height to throw over their allies, and if they are not assaulting in melee, the front liners can take cover behind taller portions of the barricade while the ranged defenders continue to pick off Shades from their well fortified tower. The Shades cannot hope to compete with arrows at any reasonable distance, and they also lack any meaningful cover from which to throw. The result: Shades can no longer threaten us. Honestly, two front liners and a ranged defender could hold the line against almost any number of Shades. We keep two squads on guard anyway, just to ensure things go smoothly.

Ultimately, I rake in 150 Power and Energy Combustion, which now governs the power of Fortify and the burning of Energy of any kind, raises by 1 to level 6. I dump my 9 available trait points into one of my new paths.

[Energy Combustion (9/30): Increase effect and efficiency of burning Energy for any purpose by 1%/trait point. Burn rate increased at 15 trait points and 30 trait points.]

I had the choice between that and one that I think I got from reaching level 5 in River’s Source:

[Focus Efficiency (0/20): Reduce backlash from extended use of high concentration abilities by 1% / trait point.]

Either way, the likelihood I’ll have to use River’s Source, and suffer the backlash, anytime soon is miniscule compared with the likelihood that I burn Energy. River’s Source is really useful for solving specific problems, and I can’t wait to find out what it does for things like complex healing issues or casting spells (whenever I get to do that), but, for now, it’s less important.

“That was some fine work everyone. Congratulations, we’re now strong enough that the Shades pose almost no threat.”

Seth, who didn’t even get a chance to assist in the battle, yawns loudly, and proclaims: “I’m going to whip up some food, if anyone wants some. Carnine steaks, roasted berries, and toasted nuts. If this isn’t something to celebrate, I don’t know what is!” At first, I’m unsure how he plans to deliver on the promise of all that food, as cooking without pans tends to be ineffective and not overly tasty, but he quickly emerges from Tom’s forge with a pan and some gloves that look to be thick Carnine leather, and a large wooden spoon. Tom returns with a knife and a hunk of meat, still on the bone, and a few bags that look to be full of Ku berries and Bon nuts. We already had the fire ready, so they get right to work. It almost looks like a group of people camping in the fields, having a good time because they can. It almost looks normal. Someone had gone to the trouble of making ceramic plates, and that’s accompanied by a number of crude, iron eating utensils. I really missed some great steps forward in terms of amenities while I was busy. My stomach growls, reminding me that I haven’t eaten in… many days, and I move to assist as I can with the preparation and cooking. I remember I used to cook frequently before all this happened, and I genuinely thought that was a hobby I’d never be able to entertain again… but seeing this, I feel renewed hope. People talking and laughing, catching up while they can, all based around enjoying food together… it’s something extremely human. I really missed it.

The food is cooked in stages, with everyone being given small portions whenever something is cooked, which turns out to be perfect because nobody really eats that much. Even as ravenous as I am, a few bites of the chewy meat almost satisfy me, and it’s frankly an indulgence to try the refreshing sweetness of the berries and satisfying, smokey crunch of the nuts.

As the night winds down, conversation continues as people enjoy a moment’s rest, but I… feel strange, thinking of joining in. I feel close to most of the people here, but… I don’t know. Maybe it was the intense introspection of the past two days, or the constant fear that I was going to lose myself, but I feel happier petting Kaythe, and being near, but not actually a part of, the conversation.

“Hey.” Lorian, the other Energy user, sits next to me on the grass.

“Hey. How’s it going?” The response is automatic, and comes out much more awkwardly, and stupidly, than I had hoped.

“Good I guess. Nobody else has died, nights are relatively safe, and I have a literal giant training me. The only problem is, you’ve been mostly useless when it comes to advice about Energy.”

I laugh awkwardly. “Yeah? Sorry… right, I literally ran away from you the last time we were talking about it, and then things kinda got busy, and… I never followed up. That’s a fair critique, my bad.”

“Well, make it up to me. What were you so excited about?”

“I figured out how to turn Fragments into arcane runes and thought I could help my friend with an issue she has.”

“You what? Fragments? Arcane runes?”

I grin, and slide her the book Rav gave me. “Be careful with that, but it contains a lot of useful information about arcane runes. Specifically, how to cast spells, but I kinda hacked it to work with Energy too. Hopefully you should be able to do it as well, but if not, I can always put them together for you and just… leave them in your Energy space. They should work. Maybe. Fragments are what you get when you use Energy to kill things.”

“You… used Energy to kill?”

“Yeah. The system thinks it’s monstrous, but it has some perks.”

I go on to explain the intricacies of what I’ve learned about Energy combat, as well as the effects of Elimination and Domination.”

“So I could have a pet as well?”

“Yeah. Kaythe worked really well as my first because… well, he wanted to come with anyway. There are some pretty intense warning about trying to dominate an unwilling subject. I wouldn’t try it on a hostile Carnine.”

“Aww… I’d like to have a dog again. But Carnines are ugly… maybe one of the bigger ones?”

“Definitely don’t try that. They’re much stronger, and their wills are insane. I learned that the hard way.”

“Yeah, well you survived, didn’t you? If I don’t challenge myself, how am I going to grow?”

I shrug, but turn to look her in the eye. “It’s your call, and I’ll do my best to warn you about any mistakes I know of, but… this stuff is all combat, but with your soul as collateral. If you lose, it isn’t just death you risk, but losing yourself to the will of something else, or worse, ceasing to exist entirely. Just be careful.”

“Alright. You know, you’re kinda hard to talk to.”

That’s a little surprising. “Why do you say that?”

“You’re so serious all the time. With something as amazing as Energy, you're all about caution and warnings. Even now, surrounded by people you’ve lived and fought with, you’re constantly checking the hills around us.”

I hadn’t even noticed, but she’s right. It’s second nature for me to always be prepared to fight. She continues, in my silence. “I get it, I’ve been through similar, but you have to relax a bit sometimes. There’s more to life than just utility and fighting.”

I let the resulting lull hang in the air, while I consider her words. “You’re right, but let me ask you, have you lost anyone yet?”

She shakes her head.

“That’s the key point where we differ.” I continue. “I lost someone very close to me, to something that never should have happened. Humans fighting humans? Now, of all times? It’s unconscionable. And yet, it happened. There are a few others who, if I lost, I… don’t think I’d be able to stop myself from killing until the threat that took them no longer existed. I know everyone here is paying attention, but what if there’s a new enemy, a monster that ambushes prey, and we miss it, and I lose someone again. Call it paranoia, but… I don’t want to have that happen. No matter what.”

She’s silent for a while. “Thanks for the insight on Energy.” She speaks quietly, before standing and going back to sit by Seth. I noticed she does not rejoin the conversation, but continues to sit thoughtfully, passively scanning the hills once in a while.

I stand, and head back into the cave. A few heads nod at me while I leave, and I smile in return. Tom had gone back inside at some point, and I find him in his forge, as usual. Huge piles of metal bars litter the area, and a newly constructed weapons rack must hold at least thirty weapons of various sizes. Everything from polearms and hand axes to longswords and spears. A few wooden shields lean up against the wall, and one appears to have been enhanced with iron sidings and supports. Tom hammers away at what must be a tower shield made entirely of a terrifying amount of iron.

“Damn, Tom, that’s one hell of a shield.”

“Ah, Anthony! It was good to see you back, manning the defences, good indeed. I see your eyes glowing in admiration, and I can’t find it in my heart to blame you. This shield is intended for Samuel, to replace the wooden one he already has. I figure a shield is closer to a weapon than armor is, and I still haven’t quite gotten the hang of smithing strong armor yet. I didn’t quite have the resources to practice before, but with all those goodies you brought in, there’s more than enough to go around!”

“You made all this in just two days?”

Tom positively beams in response. “That I did! The shield is taking a bit longer than the others, just on account of how much metal it needs. The damn thing takes half an hour at least to heat up enough to mold, but when it’s ready… nothin’ I’ve seen out there should be able to punch through this!”

“I wouldn’t want to meet something that could, that’s for sure. Well, I see you’ve got a lot on your plate, but let me know when you figure out armor. I’m not sure I want plate or anything, but sewing some metal into my clothes and having a metal plate or two to cover vulnerable areas would make a world of difference. Also, if you find the time, our Strength training could be helped out immensely by having weighted armor.”

“Boy, you’re some kind of masochist, but I’ll see what I can do. It’s the least reward I can give you for bringing home all this material!”

Part of me wants to tell him to thank Dean, not me, but… I need all the good will I can get. The worst isn’t even here yet. No, that will be when the monsters figure out where we are.